US State Department legal advisor Jennifer Newstead urged judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Tuesday to deny Iran’s request to order the US to suspend the re-imposition of sanctions by President Donald Trump in May.

The first wave of US sanctions was imposed [regulation, PDF] on Iran on August 7 with the rest of the sanctions to be put in place by November 6.

Iran filed its case against the re-imposition of sanctions alleging that the US is breaching a 1955 bilateral agreement known as the US-Iran Treaty of Amity [text, PDF], which was signed with the Iranian government led by the Shah prior to the Iranian Revolution. Article 4 of the Treaty of Amity provides,

Each High Contracting Party shall at all times accord fair and equitable treatment to nationals and companies of the other High Contracting Party, and to their property and enterprises; shall refrain from applying unreasonable or discriminatory measures that would impair their legally acquired rights and interests; and shall assure that their lawful contractual rights are afforded effective means of enforcement, in conformity with the applicable laws.

The US government is expected to argue [CNBC report] that the 2015 agreement does not include a clause referring disputes to the court in The Hague thus there is no jurisdiction and that the treaty was not signed by the current Iranian government thus not applicable.

Even if the ICJ orders the US to lift the sanctions, it does not have the power to enforce the decision.